Frank Moraga
Frank Moraga's Latest Posts
Bilingual report — NACOG 2020 Community Needs Assessment
The Northern Arizona Council of Governments (NACOG) would like to invite you to take our 2020 Community Needs Assessment survey. By completing this survey, you will help NACOG learn about the needs of local residents in order to better serve them. The survey will take about 10 minutes to complete, and all your responses will be anonymous.
Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence (AzCASE) — Wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving!
Out-of-school time programs have faced innumerable challenges this year, but have remained committed to delivering quality programming for your communities. This year, we want to give back to the amazing programs that support the children and families in Arizona communities. Learn more about the out-of-school time programs we support and how you can be a part of our Giving Tuesday efforts here.
Children’s Action Alliance — National survey shows overwhelming support for investment in high-quality early childhood education
Recent national surveys have shown, in contrast to many other issues for which voters are divided, support remains overwhelming for state investment in high-quality early childhood education. Seventy-six percent of likely Arizona voters said they support the state investing in high-quality, early childhood education opportunities for children from birth to five years old, according to a newly released survey completed by Moore Information Group.
Flagstaff Family Food Center VISTA Position
The Flagstaff Family Food Center is seeking to hire a Volunteer Engagement Specialist, an AmeriCorps VISTA position.
The Volunteer Engagement Specialist will work closely with the Volunteer Coordinator to improve the Volunteer Program by: developing and implementing a formal Volunteer Orientation; creating job descriptions for all volunteer opportunities; improving the volunteer training process; working with Program staff to ensure that all volunteer shifts are filled; developing and implementing a volunteer feedback process; developing a Volunteer Recognition Program; and engaging in community outreach to recruit new volunteers.
Children’s Action Alliance — Economic Stress: COVID-19’s Real Threat to Child Safety and Well-being
With stay-at-home orders in place and schools largely shuttered since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many in the child welfare community are concerned about undetected child maltreatment due to a lack of mandated reporter eyes on children. Many are also bracing for a surge in reports to the DCS hotline once schools fully re-open that could overwhelm Arizona’s child welfare system. However, recent research from Chapin Hall finds that a surge in child maltreatment reports is unlikely and concludes that the real threat to child safety from COVID-19 is not the decrease in mandated reporting but the increase in economic stressors.
United Way of Northern Arizona — Raising A Generation of Readers
Nationally, only 3 in 10 students entering the 4th grade are proficient readers.(1) That’s disheartening enough, but here’s the really scary statistic: children who aren’t reading proficiently by the 4th grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.(2)
Instilling a love of reading is the key to success for our children. It’s the foundation upon which their education is built.
That’s why United Way of Northern Arizona (UWNA) is proud to partner with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) to make sure children in Coconino, Navajo and Apache counties discover the world of books in those critical years before they enter school.
‘It’s creating a new normal’: A Navajo school district and its students fight to overcome amid COVID-19. See more state education news here
PIÑON – One student runs 85 feet up a hill every morning, just to get a cellphone signal so he can call in his attendance. Another moved to Phoenix by himself, after his only parent died of COVID-19, to work construction while going to school online.
Then there’s the high school senior who spends six hours most days doing homework in a car next to a school bus turned Wi-Fi hotspot – the only way some kids on the Navajo Nation can get assignments to their teachers.
These kids share a dream: to graduate high school, find a way to go to college, get a degree, land a dream job – get out of their small town, succeed and soar.
Even in the best of times, that dream is harder for Native American students to attain. And now COVID-19 has brought one of the greatest challenges yet to these young people.
As Native freshman enrollment falls sharply, tribal colleges respond. See more national education news here
Ebony Oviok, an Alaska Native from the state’s North Slope, thought she’d be spending this fall at the University of Alaska Fairbanks studying for her nursing certificate.
Instead, like thousands of would-be college freshmen, she’s home, waiting out the pandemic.
Nationwide, there are 13% fewer freshmen enrolled in college this fall than last, according to the latest data from the National Student Clearinghouse. The steepest declines have occurred at community colleges among students of color. At public, four-year colleges, freshman enrollment among Native American students is down 22%; at community colleges, it’s fallen by almost 30%.
Local Education Spotlight — PUSD hires medical COVID-19 specialist. See more local education news here
PAGE – As part of its effort to safely return to in-person learning, the Page Unified School District has hired Peter Jones as its Medical Covid-19 Specialist.
Jones will head the district’s COVID Response Team and coordinate the efforts of each schools’ COVID Response Team. In addition, he will work with state, county and local health organizations to bring new information and guidelines to the district and he’ll report back to the health agencies any COVID-related occurrences in the district.
Jones says one of his main objectives is to maintain trust and transparency with Page families and community. “If anyone on campus – student, teacher or staff—tests positive for COVID-19, we will immediately communicate this with all our stakeholders,” Jones said.
Connections Spotlight — Interdependence
Many of us were taught or developed a belief that depending on others is a weakness. I believe, as do many others, that interdependence is a strength!
I invite you to take a moment for yourself to breathe a few deep breaths. Then ask yourself, how am I feeling? What do I need? Who can help?
Have you ever helped someone without expecting anything in return? How did it feel? Many of us feel good when we are helping others. Why, then, do we often not allow others the opportunity to feel that goodness by helping us?
